2013 Big Events in IT

It’s that time of year when everyone takes a look back at the last year and starts thinking about the next year. Here’s a look at what I think the top three IT events were for small businesses.

1. The Cryptolocker virus

2. Microsoft announced Windows XP support will end April 2014

3. The Target credit card breach

What made these big events of 2013?

The Cryptolocker virus was a game changer because for the first time we saw a virus that holds your files ransom. (more details: http://extramile-tech.com/warning-cryptolocker-virus-make-sure-you-have-good-backups/) In addition to encrypting files on your local computer, it will also search out external hard drives and network drives. For this reason alone, businesses should consider an alternate media for backup such as tape or online backup.

Originally Microsoft was supposed to end support for Windows XP April 14th of 2009, but push back from businesses forced Microsoft to extend support for years. This year Microsoft said the end of support date of April 8th, 2014 will not be extended. Early in 2013 more than half of businesses still had Windows XP deployed, so it was a big year for migrations.

The Target credit card breach made headlines due to the number of people involved. What most people don’t realize is that restaurants are the number one choice for criminals to steal credit card numbers. The surprising thing is that it’s not the sketchy looking waiter that is the criminal. Hackers focus on restaurants because they are easy targets. They have lots of credit transactions and typically have weak security surrounding their computer system. Small businesses are the number two choice for hackers.

If you want to discuss the health of your network and your 2014 plans, please give me a call.